According to an article in the Star-Telegram, the once-planned condo tower in City Place in downtown Fort Worth is up for sale. The project’s develop was suspended when credit availability dried up last year during the onslaught of foreclosures that shook up the financing industry.
The article said:
Initially, plans called for 350 condos, but PNL reduced that significantly when it said it would turn the north tower, closest to Weatherford Street, back into offices because of market demand. …Because economic conditions have not improved, Porter said, PNL has decided to shelve the condo plans entirely and advance the project for office space. “Office is now the better use,” Porter said. “The change is we’ve decided to make it available to the market now.”
The truth of the matter is that both residential and commercial real estate is suffering because of foreclosures and developer bankruptcy. Commercial real estate space (including office space) demand is actually decreasing because many companies are downsizing, implementing job losses , closing entire office branches and even going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. All of these factors are decreasing the demand for commercial real estate. It sounds like PNL could be another developer struggling to fight off bankruptcy if this trend does not change.